


Sunrise

by dekuquake



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Pirates, technically most consider Arthur and his crew to be pirates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:22:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22104025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dekuquake/pseuds/dekuquake
Summary: A short oneshot of Arthur and Merlin talking for an AU where dragons protect ships. This was for the first day of Fluffcember, and I meant to explore the idea more with the other prompts, but that didn't happen, so this is all there is.
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon
Comments: 1
Kudos: 25





	Sunrise

Merlin sat in the crows nest, a dark lump against the stars. Aithusa was laying across the top mast, her tail gently waving in the air below, her light scales easily catching the slight light from one of the lanterns. Arthur hadn’t expected Merlin to be up this early, usually he had to be woken up well after sunrise. 

Arthur hoisted himself up the latter, careful to keep any noise he made to a minimum, he didn’t want to startle Merlin until he was in reach to catch him. Merlin’s clumsiness was well known and Arthur has seen a fair few disasters as a result. Aithusa could probably catch Merlin, but Arthur didn’t want to get on the bad side of the dragon. 

Looking up Arthur could see light reflecting in the dragons eye as she observed him. He held his had out open, then brought the fingers together in their signal for quiet. Aithusa turned her head to the side, obscuring her eyes from sight, but all the same he got the feeling she was rolling them. 

Shaking his head in annoyance, he continued up the last rungs of the latter. 

“You’re up early,” Arthur said as he got his footing on the deck. He grabbed Merlin by the waist before he had a chance to tip over, already anticipating Merlin’s fright, “Woah, I think you’ve had enough disasters this month, we don’t need another one.”

“Then don’t scare me like that,” Merlin half-shouted, not wanting to wake up the entire ship. 

“Startling you only causes a fifth of your disasters, the rest are of you’re own making,” Arthur replied, letting Merlin go and settling onto the deck beside him, “Besides you get startled by everything anyway.”  
“You,” Merlin said with a finger poking Arthur’s chest, “can shut up.”

“Ahh so you agree with me.” Arthur said, gently smacking Merlin’s hand away.

Aithusa huffed below them. 

“You’re suppose to be on my side,” Merlin said.

“Hey she’s known me longer,” Arthur countered.

“I’m the one that can actually hold a full conversation with her,” Merlin countered, “Therefore I am the one she likes more.” 

Aithusa growled slightly. Arthur, personally, couldn’t tell what she was saying, but the furrow of Merlin’s brow was encouraging. “What she say?”

“Actually Morgana’s her favorite,” Merlin replied bitterly, “That’s only because Morgana sneaks her some fruit.”

“And she saved Aithusa’s life,” Arthur stated. 

“I’ve saved her life too!”

“Yeah but that’s your duty as dragon kin. Morgana is bound to no such rules and there for saved her out of her own will. That probably ranks higher in Aithusa’s mind.”

“See if I help her next time she wants to go hunting on land.” 

Aithusa lifted her head to look straight at Merlin, with betrayal shown in every near invisible feature, and nearly knocking herself of the railing. Arthur muffle his laughs in his hand. Using the railing as support, he sat himself down on the floor, leaning one hand out to pat the top of Aithusa’s head, “Don’t worry girl, I’ll talk him around.” 

Aithusa gave a small hum of acknowledgement as best as a dragon can. Arthur couldn’t wait until she was old enough to speak the human language. Merlin said he was unsure when exactly it would happen, as the only other dragon he’s ever been in the presence was hundreds of years old. 

“What are you doing up here anyway,” Arthur asked, gently pulling on Merlin’s arm to get him to sit, “Couldn’t sleep?”

“What gives you that idea,” Merlin asked as he settled down, pulling his knees up to his chest, “maybe I come up here every night and go back to bed before you wake up.”

“While that would certainly explain the reason it’s so hard to get you up in the mornings, I would have already known,” Arthur said, “I always know what’s going on on my ship.” 

“How,” Merlin asked, “You have no magical abilities of your own.”  
“No, but Morgana keeps me informed about what her wards and sensores tell her.” Arthur said, “She’s got every inch of this ship under some magical spell or other, very useful for keeping extra eyes out for land or other ships.”

“She’s gotta teach me that,” Merlin said, looking towards Arthur.

“And I’m sure she will if you ask nicely.”

“There is no way I am walking up to your sister. Have you seen her? She’s terrifying.”

“You get use to it,” Arthur leaned back against the railing, watching the horizon intently. The light was shifting, he was sure of it, “besides I have a trick to asking her for favors.”

“Is it that you’re siblings and you grew up together?”  
“Gods no. It’s called talking to Gwen first,” Arthur laughed as he gave Merlin a gentle shove, “If anyone can convince Morgana to do something, it’s Gwen. You just mention a problem you’re having that Morgana can easily solve, and Gwen will get right on it.”

“Isn’t that just using Gwen though?”

“If you can trick Gwen into something you’re a god among men, Merlin. I swear she has a hidden magical ability into seeing others intentions. Never can get anything by her.” 

“We’ll I know who I am talking to tomorrow.” Merlin said.

“You mean today,” Arthur pointed out, gently pushing Merlins head towards the ocean in front of them. The sky was at that state just before the sun came up, when the outlines of islands in the distance were black silhouettes, when everything was still. The sky filled with a deep red. 

“Red skies in morning,” Merlin muttered. 

“Are you going to tell me why you’re up?” Arthur asked softly.

Merlin froze, then turned his face slightly away before mumbling something under his breath.

“You’re gonna have to speak up,” Arthur said, “the wind isn’t available to carry your message this morning, I’m afraid.”

Merlin sighed, rolling his eyes as he turned to Arthur. Like dragon like kin. “It was just a nightmare, I’m fine.”

“A nightmare?” Arthur questioned, “About?”

“My time before,”  _ On the old ship _ , he didn’t say, but Arthur heard it anyway.

“Merlin,” Arthur said, catching his attention, “It’s okay not to be okay. It hasn’t been that long sense you were there, no one expects you to have gone through that and not have some trouble.”

Merlin hummed, casting his gaze back out to the red sea.

“You’re also not the only one to have nightmares,” Arthur said, “Anyone on this ship would be willing to listen if you need to talk. Though I’d recommend going to Gaius, he always has plenty of wisdom on hand. Gwaine on the other hand does not and you should never listen to any advice he gives you, as it always revolves around getting a drink.”

Merlin let out a little laugh at that, “Okay.”

They sat in silence, observing the sun as it made its way through the red sky, now starting to lose the vibrancy of its colors. Merlin shifted where he sat, leaning himself against Arthur’s body. Aithusa lifted her head up and laid it across their laps, begging for pets. 

“Hey Arthur,” Merlin said after a long silence.

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed it! I do plan to come back to this world eventually because there's so much more to explore. Some other notes, Dragonlords exists and control the dragons on ships, and every ship needs a dragon for protection from other ships with dragons. It's a necessity that even magic-hating or fearing people recognize it's need. Arthur and his crew are considered pirates by all the other kingdoms, but do pirates really have their own kingdoms?


End file.
